


Running Up That Hill

by FreshLinguine



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Gen, Kinda, implied crushes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-10-04 20:37:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17311472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreshLinguine/pseuds/FreshLinguine
Summary: Rachel has something to show Max.





	Running Up That Hill

**Author's Note:**

> oh boy, first character/character fic. I'm. Nervous. i hope neither girl is ooc and if they are then oh well we're all learning
> 
> anyway this takes place in a Nobody Died AU because i'm in denial. this fic is named after the Kate Bush song where I got the idea for the fic from
> 
> comments are always appreciated

The vibration of Max’s cellphone startled her out of her dreamless sleep.

She stared at her dorm room wall for a moment as the buzzing continued. The string lights above her bed had been left on after a late night of studying, the photos on her wall reflecting warm circular light off their glistening surfaces. Max reached behind her and blindly grabbed for her phone off her nightstand. She winced at the sound of her shoulder cracking from the stretch and patted at her nightstand until she found her phone. Max looked at the screen through squinted eyes. It showed a smiling Rachel Amber, contact photo having been changed to one of the many selfies she had put on Max’s phone when it was left unattended.

She laid on her back and rubbed her eyes. Answering the call, she let out a groggy hello into the receiver.

“Max.”

Max rolled onto her side, holding her phone with both hands, “Um. Hey, Rachel.”

“Can you come to my room?”

Max glanced at her clock. 2:38 AM. “Rachel, are you ok? It’s really early.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just hurry up, ok?”

The beep on the other end indicated that Rachel hung up.

Max sighed and placed her phone on her nightstand. God, these late-night rendezvous with her and Chloe. She rolled off of her bed and threw on a pair of blue jeans. She thought about leaving her pajama shirt on for convenience sake, but upon looking in the mirror and realizing that it was a coffee-stained Hawt Dawg Man shirt, Max grabbed a plain sweater and pulled it over her shirt. She grabbed her bag and slipped on her grey sneakers, tip toeing down the dorm hallway to Rachel’s room. The last thing she wanted was for anyone to notice her outside her dorm this late, especially Victoria. Even though their relationship had become less hostile recently, the girls aren’t exactly friends either.

Max saw a dim light leaking out from the crack under Rachel’s door. She put her fist up to knock on the door but Rachel opened it before she could. She tugged Max by her sleeve into her room before closing the door behind her.

Even though Max had been in Rachel’s room before, it was always a sight to see. Posters of Broadway plays and modelling photos adorned the walls. She had a few thriving plants sitting on top of low bookcases pressed against the windows. Those bookcases were crammed with all manner of plays, art books, fashion magazines, and some astrology and occult books. Chloe mentioned “Macgyver-ing” a light for Rachel that reflected stars onto her ceiling once. Rachel’s room was currently bathed in a blue light, covering her ceiling and some of her walls with constellations. A lamp, draped with a cloth, was on, breaking up the blue lights with a soft orange glow. Music played softly in the background as Rachel tidied her hair and put in her signature feather earring. Shit, was that Kate Bush?

Rachel checked her winged eyeliner in the marquee lighted mirror perched on her desk. She stood up and gave Max a smile before turning to a full length mirror by the door and pulling the sleeves of her dark denim jacket halfway up her arms. Under the jacket was a well-worn flannel shirt and plain crop top. Max thought it was a little cold for a crop top but she wasn’t complaining. Rachel looked good. She looked good in everything.

Max knocked herself out of her daze when Rachel made eye contact with her. Taking her hand, Rachel said, “Ok, let’s go.”

Max tried to suppress a blush but failed. She looked around the room as Rachel began to tug her towards the door, “Um, Rachel? Is Chloe coming with us?”

“Nope. It’s just the two of us tonight.”

She winked and tugged Max out of her dorm. Shit. Every time Max hung out with Rachel, Chloe was almost always present. Max liked Rachel (how could she not?), but Rachel was more of Chloe’s friend. Although Chloe and Rachel made it clear that there was no resentment over Max’s lack of contact when she lived in Seattle, and Max definitely made up for those lost years, there was so much about Rachel that Max just didn’t know.

“Chloe is the only one of us with a ride. And I don’t know if I feel like getting caught sneaking out of my dorm at 2 AM.”

“Max, we’ll be fine. There’s a vortex party going on so we should be ok.”

Even so, Rachel stuck to the shadows with Max trailing behind. Whether it was out of Max’s comfort or her own sense of caution Max didn’t quite know. Rachel would occasionally squeeze Max’s hand, lacing their fingers together in the dark. Max could hear the faint thump of music coming from an unseen part of the campus and even laughter and talking from nearby students. The moon was full and the trees shook with a chilly early autumn breeze.

They hit the street without delay, passing under streetlights as they walked down the empty streets. Max didn’t even notice that they were heading away from Arcadia Bay until they stood at the entrance to a forested area. The trees were tall and looming in the darkness. Although the full moon provided some light, the changing leaves had yet to fall from the trees. Max looked at Rachel reluctantly after switching her phone’s flashlight on and pointing it into the dark.

Rachel nodded and carried Max away into the woods, keeping a tight grip on her hand. They ran through thickets along crude paths and Max swore that the wind was behind them, pushing them faster. Her vision was in a whirl, she couldn’t recognize anything around her except for Rachel. Her blonde hair was whipping around her head from the push of the wind. In the darkness she burned like a torch. There was only Rachel.

When they finally stopped, Max was out of breath. She braced herself on her knees and gulped in air. Her legs were screaming from exertion.

Max stood upright and looked around as she inhaled deeply. Her eyes widened at her surroundings. It was a forest clearing. A pond was at the center of the clearing, its shore made up of pebbles and damp ground. The water was still and reflected the moon and stars above. The darkness of the forest around Max and Rachel was dense, but there was a glow around the pond that lit up the clearing. The wind had died down.

Max broke the silence after taking in her surroundings, “Rachel, this place… It’s beautiful. How did you find it?”

Rachel gave a smile and crossed her arms, kicking a rock around, “I found it while I was at a party near here. I thought it would be cool, had a bonfire and stuff. But I wasn’t really having a great time so I went to walk off some steam and I found this. I thought ‘Wow, Max would like this place’ and I figured tonight was good.”

Rachel’s gaze flickered to Max for a moment before she smiled, turned towards the pond, and walked along its perimeter. Max figured she should be the one whose flattered but Rachel still exudes control even when she’s giving something. Her stride is confident, she’s standing tall against the unfamiliar wilderness.

Ripping her gaze away from Rachel, Max took her Polaroid camera out of her bag and looked around for things to take pictures of. It was the first time her and Rachel were really alone together, might as well immortalize the moment with a couple of snapshots. She experimented with the way the flash of the camera hit certain plants and the way it would reflect off the water. She took pictures of the moon and the trees, the water and the shore. It looked like there was some rusted cars that had been buried below muddy ground and plants, very noteworthy in her opinion.

Rachel didn’t say anything as she took a seat on a large rock overlooking the water and watched Max do her thing. She brought her knees up and wrapped her arms around her legs. After some time, Max turned back to Rachel and held up her camera. The blonde laughed and posed for a picture on the rocks. Her smile was bright and her eyes glittered in the flash.

Max lowered her camera and placed it into her bag. As Max fiddled with her bag, Rachel got off the rock and approached her. When Max looked up and Rachel’s hazel eyes hit her, Max swore that Rachel must have been a part of nature itself.

“Think this is cool?” Rachel took Max’s hands into her own once again, “Come check this out.”

Rachel and Max began a steep walk up a hill face, following a crude path that Max figured must have been left by animals. The only sounds were the occasional snap of twigs below the girls’ shoes and the gentle rustle of the leaves in the wind.

The trees began to open up to a ledge jutting out from the face of the hill. Rachel helped pull Max onto the ledge and the girls looked out at the view before them. Arcadia Bay was laid out in front of them, illuminating their faces in the soft glow of distant streetlights and flickering of the headlights of cars.

Max stood at the edge of the clearing and took in Arcadia Bay. Not sure what to say, Max murmured, “You can see the whole town from up here.”

Rachel chuckled and wandered up to Max, “It doesn’t look so bad from up here, huh? Looks peaceful.”

Max took out her camera again and snapped a picture of the scene laid out before her. Peering behind her, Max saw a fallen tree perfect for sitting. She plopped down on the fallen tree and watched her photo develop in the dark. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rachel sit beside her and Max blushed in the darkness as their knees touch.

Rachel rested her head on Max’s shoulder and watched the photo develop with her. Max’s face erupted into a giant red blush. She stiffened under Rachel’s casual touch. How could she do this so naturally? The mystery of Rachel Amber deepens.

After a moment of comprehension, Max placed her head on Rachel’s. She heard the blonde sigh contently as they sat in a comfortable silence. Max felt Rachel snake her arm around her waist and Max swore she could die. Max repeated the gesture, albeit a little more awkwardly. Rachel didn’t seem to mind, however, because she scooted closer until their thighs were flush together. The two girls sat, watching the lights of Arcadia Bay flicker before them.

Max mumbled, “We should probably get back.”

“I guess so.” Max tried not to think too hard about the disappointment laced in Rachel’s voice.

Max stashed the photo of the town in her bag and went to the crude forest path that the two girls came from. She pointed the light of her phone into the dark. More of the path lit up as Rachel turned the flashlight of her phone on as well.

Rachel stepped before Max. The wind suddenly picked up and shook the tops of the trees almost violently. Max looked at Rachel and gasped softly. She was smiling up at her gently, her hair swirling around her head. Max rubbed her eyes because she could’ve sworn she saw Rachel’s hair flicker with sparks, like the crackling of a fire.

Rachel held her hand out to Max, “C’mon, I know the way back better than you.”

Max smiled back and took her hand.


End file.
